Managing people can be a scary prospect and there are so many views and theories on the topic it can seem overwhelming at times. When I meet with clients, they are often very clear on what they want from their people but find themselves shying away from taking action from fear of doing the wrong thing in the wrong way and the result is they often end up doing nothing.
The world of HR is often associated with policies, processes and employment law – and while that is all relevant and has its place, it shouldn’t feel like a minefield that businesses need to wade through to get results.
I have long held the view that if you can master the art of a great conversation, you’re most of the way there and can often avoid the trickier more process driven approaches. It doesn’t matter whether you are talking to someone about their performance, providing feedback on a piece of work (good or bad!), managing a sickness absence issue or goal setting with your team – if you are able to have a clear, respectful, and direct conversation, you will more than likely get the results you are after.
When I work with clients, I spend a lot of time talking about the importance of good conversations with their teams – we often refer to these as ‘difficult convesations’ which immediately makes them something to avoid! Conversations that are open and honest don’t have to be difficult and I am passionate about a few simple principles that can prevent the classic cases of misunderstanding, assumptions and lack of information that typically lead to the majority of people issues that we all see on a daily basis.
1. Ask questions to build your understanding
It can be easy to become frustrated with people issues, if someone’s performance isn’t where you want it to be, or a team member keeps being late or off sick. There are no rules around asking well meaning and well-intended questions – and the sooner you do this the better for everyone. Making simple, objective observations and following these up with a question can take the emotion out of the issue and encourage your team member to open up about any issues that are getting in the way of their work or performance.
2. Listen like you mean it
Asking open questions is key to a good conversation but it only works effectively if you are actively listening and keeping an open mind about the response. If you have allowed an issue to continue which has caused frustration, it may be easy for you to have made assumptions about the cause. When you genuinely listen you will gain valuable insights and build a real understanding of the issue, giving you a better chance of positively resolving it.
3. Be prepared to take feedback
You may open the conversation to address an issue with an employee but it is important that you listen to any feedback from your team in response. You may be frustrated with the lack of work rate from a team member but once you open up the conversation they may make you aware of organisational issues that are impacting on them that that you weren’t aware of. This can help you work from both sides to identify any areas for improvement.
4. Set clear goals and expectations
Once you have opened up a conversation about the issue, listened to their view and taken any feedback it is critical that you both leave the conversation with a clear understanding of what needs to happen next. Take the time to agree any actions on both sides and leave the door open for your team member to come back to you with any further concerns. Set a date for a further catch up to review how things are going.
5. Keep it positive
If this great conversation ends up in a positive improvement or change then make sure this is communicated to your employee. Acknowledge their efforts and encourage their positive behaviours. Everyone wants to feel valued and appreciated.
They key to avoiding difficult and complex discussions is having proactive and early great conversations that don’t require you to follow complex policies or rules. These rules and processes have a place but generally only when things get difficult. Policies are a great form of guidance and a good check point for you and your employees but no policy in the world will replace the value of good quality, early conversations with your team members.